Sunday, December 28, 2008

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

I don't want to make it sound like I have been ultra busy the last couple of weeks, because the truth is, I haven't. Work has slowed down a bit, and I don't have to travel till the middle of January, but I just havne't been posting as much as I should, so to you loyal reader (hopefully, readers), I apologize.

Life has been good around here lately. Lisa and I both love this time of year. We kicked off the 2008 Christmas Season last Sunday with the Uecker Family Christmas in Gaylord. Lots of good food, family and even some football were the day's themes and it was good to catch up with people that I am still getting to know. We need to get together more, but with today's busy schedules, it is hard to do. The highlight of the day (well, maybe not) would have been me getting barfed on by a five month old, but don't worry Lane, I won't hold it against you. I'm just glad you weren't wearing that ugly maroon and gold jumper that you have.

I took Monday and Tuesday off to just relax, and Lisa had work till Tuesday yesterday. We celebrated our Christmas together yesterday afternoon. The events kicked off with me cooking stuffed porked chops, corn and hashbrowns. After exchanging gifts, I allowed Lisa to do the dishes while I took a nap.

We then went and caught the matinee for Four Christmases (lots of good laughs) and after that it was off to Sears to get my new pride and joy, our 40 inch LCD TV (It's a Samsung, I've named him Sammy, but that really makes Lisa mad).

Last night we ended our night with supper at Dino's Pizza (Voted in Mankato as the best pizza in town, and it lived up to its billing) and came home and watched National Lampoon's Christams Vacation.

Tonight, we will head to our church (Christ the King) for 4 o'clock service before heading to Gaylor for hopefully a 5:30 service at Lisa's parents church (Trinity Lutheran). We will celebrate Christmas with her family before heading down to Iowa to celebrate with mine tomorrow and Friday morning. Thankfully, the weather has been great yesterday, today and hopefully tomorrow.

I hope this finds everyone doing well! Travel safe this holiday season, and remember the reason for the season!

A couple of video's for you to maintain your holiday spirit (including the trailer for Four Christmases).

Sunday, December 14, 2008

It's been a long weekend. Friday morning, I jumped in a car with our assistant basketball coach and drove to beautiful, Bismarck, N.D., for our basketball game against Mary (which we won). After the game, we drove to Aberdeen, S.D., to play a game against Northern State (which we lost) on Saturday. After the game, we drove back to 'Kato, covering 995 miles in roughly 36 hours.

The trip was good, minus the weather we went through last night... going east and west Saturday night was terrible through the blizzard, but once we got on 29 south it got better. We got home at 3:30 in the morning.

Other than that, there hasn't been much new in our world. Gearing up for the holidays. Hope those of you who drive around the holidays, drive safe.

Monday, December 8, 2008

I was a mild Wolves fan at best when they had KG... I loved Flip as a coach, was pissed when they fired him and not McHale and now they had the opportunity to do the exact same thing (fire McHale) and didn't. So McHale is coaching again but he did relieve himself of his front office duties. Hopefully a good Iowa boy, Fred Hoiberg, can step in well as GM. Seriously, Sam Mitchell is available, as is Flip (who i am willing to bet would come back if given the chance) and they go back to McHale, who makes me McIll. Okay, i promise that i won't blog anymore about the NBA, but i had to get this out.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

More so in name than activity. Last night, Lisa and I went to the Wild game with our friends Nathan and Kalli. Lisa, Nathan and Kalli had never been to a Wild game, and I have never been to one as a fan, however I had been to one before as a guest of someone in the pressbox, but never in the stands. We had great seats. I was cheering for the Blues (who were playing the Wild) because one of our former players, David Backes, is on their squad. The Wild won 4-0, but we got to go down and see David after the game where we ran into Gus Frerotte and Jeff Dugan. Frerotte knows the Blues' Keith Tkachuk, who Backes used to live with, so it was cool to talk to them for a while. Dugan remembered me from my days as a PR intern with the Vikings, so it was kinda cool to catch up with them.

It was a really fun night, and I recommend going to a Wild game whenever you would get the chance... The X alone is a beautiful site to see.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Hey everyone-It should be a law that every week includes a four day weekend. Our weekend started Wednesday evening as we drove to Iowa to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. On our way down, we stopped in Fairmont to see a our friends (Jason and Betsey's) new baby girl, Ainsley Renee. She was adorable and it's crazy how small they are at first. Big sister Ella (who is four years older and shares the same birthday as her new sister) was doing a great job helping out mom and dad while we were in the hospital.

We got home Wednesday night and my Grandma Arlene and uncle Arnie came over along with Bryon and Brooke to celebrate the Twait side Thanksgiving with some Godfathers pizza. We got a game of Texas Hold'em going around 10 and we were done around 11:30 then we went to bed.

Thursday, we got up and celebrated Lisa's birthday (about two weeks early) with my parents before heading over to Daniel and Sue's for the Nelsen Thanksgiving. It was great to see everyone and talk for a while. After a great meal, we jumped in the car and drove to Gaylord and hung out with Lisa's family for the night and ate more food. We came back late Thursday night and attempted to sleep in Friday morning.

Once we got up, we went to the Hub for breakfast before going to MSU together so I can get some work done. After getting my work done in about an hour, we came home and put up or tree and stuffed Christmas letters and dropped them in the mail. Lisa's brother Ryan, and her two sisters, Lindsey and Robyn, stopped by to get a set of box springs that he had bought from us late int he afternoon. While he was here, he figured out our problem with our outdoor lights and we got them going which was exciting. Friday night, we drove out to the mall to get our Christmas gift from Grandma Nelsen and did a little other shopping.

Saturday, we got up and went to Anytime and worked out. After that, I went to the mall and got my haircut before I went into work to prepare for the MSU vs. Bethany game. After the game, we had supper with Lisa's parents (Lisa's sister, Lindsey plays wbb for Bethany, so they all came to see MSU win 84-45.). Lisa and I got home and decided to go back to Gaylord and surprise her parents because we were bored and didn't want to spend any money entertaining ourselves so we figured we would go home and hang out with her rents. We got up today and came back and have been bumming most of the afternoon and evening. I set up our new printer (which we got with G'ma Christmas money) and Lisa wrapped some gifts. Other than that, we've been bums and it's been enjoyable sitting at home with nothing going on. I have the Vikings game on, however I don't think that will last for long. Family Guy starts in like 15 minutes and the Vikings just gave up a 65-yard touchdown pass.

My work calander looks good for the week, so it should be a nice, relaxing week for me. I hope everyone else's week is the same.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Monday, November 24, 2008

It was a long weekend this weekend, but a fun one nonetheless. We hosted our Pepsi Tip-Off Tournament Friday and Saturday which consisted of eight basketball games in about 36 hours. It was a lot of fun, MSU went 4-0 (men's and women's games). Our women played great both nights and our men played really good on Friday and struggled Saturday, but got the win. I guess that's what good teams do, they win even when they aren't playing the best.

Sunday, Lisa and I woke up and went and worked out. Once we came home and showered, we headed out to the mall and got some Christmas shopping done. To my calculations we only have four more people to get so that will be nice to have done. After shopping we got some groceries then came home. We watched Grey's (which is getting really, really weird) and then some of the Grey Cup before getting a phone call from Lisa's parents who were in town shopping as well. So we met them for supper and they came over to hang a couple of things in our house (Curt is much better at this than I, he acutally measures and centers, I just throw a nail up there). We hung a wall decoration in our room and then our jewelry Christmas Tree in our living room that Grandma Lucielle gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Last weekend, we hung the Christmas lights outside when it was nice out and I'm glad that job is done. Friday evening, we are going to hang our Christmas Tree and decorate the house so that will be exciting. We are both prety big fans of the holidays, but I told Lisa that we couldn't put anything up until after Thanksgiving.

We are heading home Wednesday evening for Thanksgiving and then driving to Lisa's parents Thursday afternoon. It should be a fun weekend, it is always good to get together whith friends and familie's over Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Hi everyone...I first off want to echo Mandy's sediments that she posted on her blog... I saw that episode of "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" live and his show is one that I watch on a regular basis, much to Lisa's chagrin (she doesn't like politics, finds it boring)... Anyway, when he had is special comment it tugged at my heart strings... I thought I'd post the entire video for you.

Friday, November 14, 2008

I'm in Mansfield, Ohio as we open the NCAA playoffs for football tomorrow for the first time since 1993...We chartered a flight from the cities and touched down in Akron, Ohio this afternoon at 1, local time...After renting a car, our AD, beat writer and I cued up our Garmin GPS and made our way to Ashland/Mansfield...

After a walk through and a coaches meeting, I've just finished my supper and now am officially a sports/politics geek (i guess that's not really breaking news)... I have our men's hockey video and radio feed up on my laptop, I have the Rachel Maddow show on the TV to my right (Obama just picked up one more electoral vote today.... Nebraska awards electoral votes by congressional districts and they finally counted the votes in Omaha) and I'm awaiting our swimming results from tonight, so I'm basically in heaven... Casey (our radio play-by-play guy and I have a great suite, king size bed (Casey's), pull out couch (Mine), a bathroom and kitchen.. who says it doesn't pay to travel on the NCAA dime... The only thing that is missing is my wonderful gal, who is busy Christmas shopping with her mom and Lindsey in Mankato...

I love travelling and seeing the country, but it's tough to be gone, especially as often as i am in the winter and fall...Lisa's pretty understanding of the whole thing, but it doesn't make being away any easier. Thank god for cell phones and text messaging, as we can stay in contact basically the entire time, which is nice. It's also really nice we have a charter plane, because we should be home as soon as we can load the bus, get to the airport and have the plane ready for us. Love you sweetie, see you tomorrow!

If we win tomorrow, we do this all over again next week, if we lose, I'm home for our eight-team, Pepsi Tip-Off tourney next weekend, so the madness doesn't end.

I hope we start to get some hard freezing here in the next couple of days...With the moisture we've had, it's been tough to get the 250 (give or take 30) acres of corn that Dad and Daniel have in the field out... I hate talking to grouchy farmers, I always feel guilty that I'm not home to help.

Well that's it for now, I'm going to clean out my inbox for my school email and start to get things ready for next week.

Monday, November 10, 2008

And the Mavericks are playoff bound... So far it's been a great week for MSU athletics to say the least (I know this is a Scott and Lisa blog, but I should fill ya'll in). Saturday, our men's cross country team advanced to nationals and our football team beat St. Cloud State, bringing home the storied Training Kit. Then on football found out that they are advancing to the NCAA Playoffs (yes, there is actually a football playoff in NCAA Division III, II and Championship Sub-Division). Then, today we found out that our soccer team will be heading to Denver play in the NCAA tournament. We were a pretty safe bet to make the tournament prior to last weekend's NSIC tourney, but after we beat Winona State (at Winona State), we received an automatic bid.

So needless to say, it's going to be a busy week (or two) in the MSU Athletic Communications Office and I (we) wouldn't have have it any other way. I'll be leaving with our football team for Ashland, Ohio on Friday and return Saturday night. The great part about the trip is we will be flying and should be home in time for our basketball game on Saturday night (we have a hockey doubleheader at the Civic Center on Friday and Saturday and as volleyball, women's basketball and men's basketball tripleheader in the Taylor Center Saturday).

Life at 505 West 8th street has been great lately. Yesterday, a friend of Lisa's came by to do some electrical work on the house (he had done some when we moved in as well)... We had him put in an outlet outside our front door for Christmas Lights... Note to self, hang Christmas lights before it gets crappy outside. He also put in a dim slider in our dining room to replace our dimming knob which always fell off and he put up our motion light outside. We are pretty excited about it all, and it was relatively cheap which is even better! Tonight we ran a few errands and are planning a date night on Wednesday to see Role Models before I leave for Ohio on Saturday.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Needless to say, it was a happy night in the Nelsen household last night. I think it's rather obvious, who I have supported for President, and am excited to see what the next four years can bring. On the other hand, I believe my wife is excited for the election to be done, so she can go about her business and not be "bored" during TV time at night :) (love you sweetie).

Above is a video that Will i Am of the Black Eyed Peas made following the New Hampshire primary. When looking at election stuff at work today I stumbled across his Hologram interview with Anderson Cooper (which i've put below) and he said that President-elect Obama's speech in New Hampshire is a speech that reminded him of the ones he had to learn when he was in school, so he made a song to it. I'm impressed by it, I'm sure some of you won't be, but that's the beauty of America.

Monday, November 3, 2008

I had a rare opportunity to have a Friday night off, so I left work early and came home (Lisa had the afternoon off) and she made bars for the press box on Saturday and I lounged around and did nothing.

Friday night, we ordered take out (actually delivery) from one of our favorite restaurants in Mankato, Blue Bricks and watched the MSU game against Minnesota (3-3 tie). It was a great game, and I'm sure Lisa thought I was getting a little too excited at times.

Saturday saw MSU host a football game against Upper Iowa. Lisa worked the press box again, answering the phones and her bars were a big hit. After the game, we drove to the Xcel Center in St. Paul to watch the second game of a two-game series between MSU and Minnesota. I had to work, and Lisa sat in the press box and watched the game. We lost, 6-3, and afterwards, we drove to Gaylord to spend the night at Lisa's parents. Sunday, we got up and Lisa and I got our but kicked by her sisters in Pictionary before we went into town to celebrate her grandma's birthday with all her aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a lot of fun and we had some great food.

Last night, we ran a couple of errands when we got home and chilled out before heading to bed early. We joined Anytime Fitness last week, so we've been getting up early to get in so we can be ready for work on time. It's been going good so far, so that is good...

Today was absolutely gorgeous outside, and a day that I often found myself wishing I was back home helping out the field. It would have been a great day to be in the field helping out that is for sure...Hopefully everyone can get the majority of their work done before the potential snow hits this weekend.

Tomorrow is a big day, that's for sure. Whether you are a Democrat, a republican, a libertarian, a member of the green party, an independent or a member of the socialist workers party, I ask that you get out and vote. It's a big election, that is for sure, and make your voice heard. Okay, I'm going to get off my soapbox now and continue to watch the SNL Election Bash on NBC.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

So if you asked Bryon, he could have told you he has known this all his life...If you ask Lisa, she'd probably say "There were times that he is," but now, you can officially say, I'm a dumba$$.

Here's what happened yesterday. Lisa and I got home from work around the same time and we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and do some work outside. So, i grabbed my ipod and rake and started working on the front yard with the rake. Lisa went to the basement and grabbed her bags of tulips (28 to be exact) and we went our separate ways.

After an hour, I was done and went toward the driveway to see how things were going for my sweetie. I placed my ipod on my trunk and helped Lisa wrap-up her tulip planting.

Well, we were done and we decided to run to Jimmy John's to get something to eat so we could get home in time to watch the Barack Obama commercial on TV.

Let's fast-forward to 2 p.m. today. I'm working in the office and (Brian) Zins comes in and says "Hey, I found these earbuds wrapped around your antennae on your car." I respond with "Huh, if those are my earbuds, I wonder where my ipod is."

So I got up and left the office and came home to look for my ipod, which I've had for almost two months. I got home, walked around the drive way and around our property and didn't see it and figured "Ah hell, it is probably gone."

So, I go back to the office and break the news to Lisa that I couldn't find my ipod and she's not thrilled to say the least (and neither was I). I got what I needed to done at work and left around 4:10 so I could come home and do some more searching.

Well,I got home and decided to walk the route we would take to Jimmy Johns to see if it fell off my trunk in my neighborhood. About 30 feet from my front yard, I found the ipod, laying on the ground (not smashed) in front of my neighbors house. So i picked it up and turned it on and it still worked! The back of the ipod was a little chewed up from the fall, but other than that, it was working great.

So, there you have it people. I'm the dumbass who has a 200 dollar ipod and I leave it on my trunk as I try to drive away. Let this be a lesson to you all!

Getting back to the Barack Obama commercial. I thought wow, I wonder how much money this was costing him and if it would be potential overkill. Anyway, I settled in last night and watched it and was amazed. I have been an avid supporter of Mr. Obama since I first heard his speech at the 2004 democratic national convention and I thought last night's presentation was amazing.

Busy weekend of MSU athletics ahead this weekend. Tomorrow night (Halloween), Lisa and I are going to stay home and watch the Minnesota State vs. Minnesota game on FSN North and hopefully hand out candy. Saturday, MSU has a home football game that I am working, and Lisa is answering the pressbox phone. Afterwards we are going to the Xcel to watch the second game of the MSU/Minnesota Series (also on FSN North). So cheer on those Mavericks this weekend!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Yesterday I had stated (for the sake of time) that Jamie (Hunecke) Burdorf was someone that "I had graduated with."

She's more than that. She was one of my closest friends in high school and I have even been fortunate enough to have been featured in her family photo album. We laughed together, we cried together (stupid North Iowa basketball) and we've had the best of times and the worst of times (see cried together).

Anyway, Jamie, I didn't mean to offend you when i said "we graduated together".

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Things have been going well up here. Last weekend was fun as Friday night, Lisa and I went on a double-date with our friends Zins and Tracy to the MSU volleyball game and then downtown for supper.

Saturday saw us getting up early for a great breakfast at the Wagon Wheel (a Mankato must) before I left for Marshall, Minn., with our football team (we won.). The best part about the local games is we were home early and we got home around 7.

After running home to change clothes, Lisa and I went to our friends Mandy and Justin's and got to see Aaron and Jamie and their kids. I went to high school with both (Aaron is one of my best friends and Jamie and I graduated together, and she's Justin's sister, so there is your reason they were in 'kato) so it was good to hang out.

Lisa and I decided to go for a late supper, but ran into huge crowds so we went to Hooligans for supper around 9:30... Once we got there, there was a bunch of sweet looking people (really not so sweet) dressed in Halloween costumes so we had fun making fun of them from our booth.

Sunday was a lazy day as we got up, watched the Office and SNL before running errands and watching Weeds and Martian Child. Last night we continued the movie "W" with our friends Chris and Candice... It was good movie, pretty onesided (or my-sided) and entertaining at least for me. Lisa wasn't too big of a fan.

Tonight, Biggest Loser is on, so that will consume most of our time... It's a good season, but not nearly as good as last years.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Hey there... we're alive... I've been busy with work lately and Lisa's not big into blogging, so I promise I'll work harder to keep the updates rolling.

As mentioned, I've been pretty busy at work (who hasn't thou, right?) between travelling with football and assisting with our other events. I love it, and I'm really excited to see how Lisa's jumped on board to back the Mavericks...

Not too much new around here, last week, Lisa and I went and saw a great movie, the Infinite Playlist of Nick and Nora and really enjoyed it, it is a great date movie, that's for sure. Yesterday we went out to Minneopa to try to catch some of the color, but it was rather unsuccessful because the color was mainly on the ground. We were glad to go, nonetheless, so now we know next year, to go out there early and often, because it is truly beautiful.

We got back and racked leaves into the road for the city to come by and vacuum... That was fun.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, we've been a bit busy (still no excuses i know).

Lemme give you a readers digest version if you will of our past month.

Lisa and I travelled with our men's basketball to the beautiful island country of Barbados for a three-day tour. The guys played great and we had an awesome experience on the island.

When we returned home, I was home for an abbreviated stay and then left for Bemidji with our football team. A win for the Mavericks - the first in our new league - and a long bus ride home got me nice and tired. The following week we got new furniture and we hosted our first home football game - another win.

A little bit about our new furniture... It looks great, we got it from from A&W furniture in Redwood Falls and it took a little over a month for us to get and now we finally got it. The living room furniture (couch, chair and footstool) is awesome as is our bedroom. We got a brand new bedroom set, including a bed (with storage), dresser, bureau, mirror and mattress. Like the living room furniture, it looks great except for one small problem...The bed stands a good three and a half feet off the floor and when laying on it, i can touch the ceiling....We shopped around for low profile box springs to help the problem and were told that the cheapest (and most effective thing to do) would be to just put a sheet of plywood down and put the mattress on top of that, so that's the new plan.

Had a great weekend last weekend as Lisa and I travelled to Ringsted for my mom's surprise 50th birthday party...We succeeded, she was surprised and we had a blast. Even got to drink a little Danish whiskey...terrible, but it was sort of a right of passage (we drank it with my grandpa).

Can't believe that September has already passed and October is knocking on the door...22 days till basketball starts, little over 10 weeks till Lisa's Birthday and about 12 weeks until Christmas. Wow.

That's it for now.... Hope everyone is doing well, hopefully I will start updating more frequently.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Just a quick update for you... Lisa and I will be leaving tomorrow (Thursday) and out of town till Monday as we will be traveling with the Minnesota State men's basketball team on its exhibition tour of Barbados.

I've added a link to the MSU men's basketball blog on the left, that will be updated daily (if not tri-daily) so you can follow our journey there.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Let me first begin by saying, sorry for the lack up updates on the blog over the past month, it's been a while, and we've been busy.

As you can probably see, we are now married. The big day was July 26, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect, the flower girl and ring bearer didn't scream during pictures and they walked down the isle, and we had a great reception at the Best Western.

There is so much I could talk about in regards to the wedding, but since most of you who read this blog were probably there, I won't get too deep into details. The thing that shocked me most about the day was how fast it went. From when we started pictures until the end of the dance still seems like a blur, and I'm sure that once we watch the video, things will start to pop back into our head from the day.

After the wedding, we opened gifts at our place and then headed to the cities. We had a visitor with us to the cities, as my (Scott) college roommate of 3.5 years decided to come to the wedding on the Friday before the wedding (he lives in Arizona). So, he caught a ride with us to the airport and flew out Monday, while Lisa and I jumped on a plane and headed to the Rivera Maya in Mexico for our honeymoon.

We had a great day of travel, no delays, no drama and after nearly 12 hours of travelling (we had to leave for the airport at 4:30 in the morning, we arrived in Cancun. After going through customs and checking in with our travel company we were in a van and on our way to our resort, the El DoradoRoyale. It was an absolutely beautiful place - and 100% kid free - and Lisa and I had a great time. We stayed their for eight days, swam with the dolphins, went snorkeling, and most importantly relaxed and shut ourselves down from the outside world. By the end of the trip - as with any trip - we were ready to get home and back to a structured schedule.

This past weekend was a busy one for us as well. Friday night, we went back to Gaylord to the in-law's and rehashed the wedding and caught up. Sunday, we were up early and off to Redwood Falls to A&W Furniture to get ourselves a new bedroom set, mattress, couch, chair and footrest. Last night, after running a couple of errands, we finally settled down and caught some of the Olympics (I'm a geek about the Olympics and was kind of disappointed with myself for not seeing much of the first full day of competition...heck, I was lucky to see the ending of the opening ceremonies on Friday night).

Today we got up and met my brother and his wife, and Jason, Betsey and Ella at TGIFriday's for lunch, afterwards, we went to Target and used a bunch of gift cards and purchased several items that we needed for our house...So as I sit here and type, Lisa is busy putting stuff away, but it probably works out better that way because I'm out of her way.

That's it for now, sorry again for the delay, but hopefully I can get in a regular posting mode.

Hope every one is well, I'll leave you with some photos of the wedding day-

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Hey All- I might be one of the worst ever at blogging, I apologize for the delays in updates...

Hope this latest update finds everyone doing well.

It's been a crazy month since my bachelor party in the middle of June.

Two weeks after my bachelor party, I travelled to Tampa, Fla., for our annual CoSIDA convention. CoSIDA stands for College Sports Information Directors of America. It was a great trip, I learned that although I'm sure that Florida is a great state, it is a state in which one should not visit between the months of May and September. The humidity down there was crazy. It was a lot of fun, got to catch up with a bunch of SID buddies and learned quite a bit too. One of the highlights of the trip was when Dick Vital spoke to our organization. He received an award from our organization and I actually had the opportunity to get my picture taken with him. Billy Packer, who for some reason keeps getting asked to come back to CBS to do the Final Four, also received an award, he told some good stories, but he couldn't get out of there quick enough which annoyed me a bit. UPDATED July 14, 9:02 am... After receiving an email from fellow SID Josh Deer, I have found out that Billy Packer has been released by CBS.

I returned home at 3:30 in the morning on the 3rd of July after being stuck in Detroit Airport due to thunderstorms. Lisa and I did not have any major plans for the weekend and we just played it low-key. I got up on the third, did laundry, we went and had brunch and ran some errands than that night we went out to the campground to hang out with Lisa's brother Ryan and his wife and some of their family and friends. It was a good time, I even got to play some cribbage (and won a game) so it was fun.

The fourth was rather low-key as well. Some of the highlights included watching City Slickers along with the Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest. Lisa was a little grossed out about the idea of eating somewhere around 63 Hotdogs in 10 or so minutes (and truthfully as was I), but none the less it was entertaining. That afternoon we laid low, I mowed the yard and Lisa weeded our flowerbed before having our friends Nathan and Kalli over. We played bocce ball (Nathan and I dominated) and then went to Blue Bricks for supper before coming home and having a fire and then going to Nathans to watch the fireworks. Saturday we went back to Gaylord and took Lisa's parents to the Drive-In (in Winthrop, great place for a meal) for their anniversary and then went back to their house and played a game of Rummy. Sunday included a trip to church and doing odds and ends around our house.

There was a bit of unfortunate news over the weekend of the fourth as Lisa's great-aunt passed away. So, we were back in Gaylord for the wake and funeral before returning to Mankato Tuesday afternoon.

It was a rather quick week for me at work, as I basically worked half a day Monday, a fourth of a day Tuesday, all day Wednesday and Thursday and had Friday off so Lisa and I could travel to Sioux Falls for a wedding of my close personal friend Shane Drahota. I was a groomsman in his wedding (and thus, that's where the picture at the opening of this post was taken) and Shane will be a groomsman in our wedding. It was a great time, we had an opportunity to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while and we danced the night away... I used to have no rhythm, now i have a minimal amount, but don't try telling me I'm a bad dancer, because I can bust a move like my boy Justin Timberlake.

When we got to the rehearsal Friday Shane looked at me and said, "This is you in two weeks." It then dawned on me on how close our wedding really was, so I dubbed the weekend "Rehearsal, Rehearsal" or Rehearsal Squared. It was a great weekend and it made me even more excited to marry Lisa in less than two weeks.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

So, talking to my brother tonight, he brought up a situation from his slow pitch game last night...

Here it is, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this...

Last night, my brother's co-ed slow pitch team (East Forks Trucking), the second-best team was playing the top team in the Ceylon League, H&D.

Trailing 8-3, and with Bryon on the mound and a runner first and one out, the gal at the plate hits a top fly in front of the mound.

Bryon, thinking head's up, yells to Jason Ulrich (both Bryon and Jason are second-generation slow-pitch players), jay-jay, two two... Bryon let's the ball drop, throws it to Jason who touches second and relays the ball Darci at first for the double play to end the inning (the hitter never even left the box, assuming it was going to be an out). the other team goes ballistic, calling it a dirty play... One of them yell's at the umpire "That should have been an infield fly," to which Bryon replies "Know the Bleepin rules," and chirping ensues, they call East Forks a bunch of dirty players, blah blah blah...

Bryon ends up hitting two bombs and East Forks comes back to win 13-12. SO tell me this, is the play dirty?

I don't think so, and here is my reasoning... They're playing the top team in the league, who don't get their by luck, so, they should know to run out every play. Secondly, it's not as if Byron's team was winning 10-2 when it happened, they were down and you gotta get outs right? Finally (or D) although i don't know this for sure, but I'm sure regular season record as an effect on tournament seeding, so that being said, a win against the top-ranked team in the league will give Bry's squad a tie breaker in the end.

I've emailed fellow SID friends for their opinion and will post them below... Please leave your opinion in the comments section too...

Josh Deer, SID Concordia-St. Paul : No, hustle down the line.. I run out everything in softball, figure it out.

Paul Allan, Assistant AD/Director of Athletic Communications, Minnesota State University: Correct me if I'm wrong here. BUT THIS IS SLOW PITCH! I thought it was a great play...and likely would have told the guy who hit the ball that maybe he should have been running.

Craig Roberts, BSM High School SID: Not a dirty play but the umpire apparently screwed the pooch on the play. Per USSSA Slow Pitch rules:

H. He hits a fair fly ball or line drive that an infielder intentionally drops, with a runner on first, runner on first and second, first, second and third or on first and third with less than two outs. NOTE: A trapped ball that hits the ground is never ruled intentionally dropped.

Josh Deer, CSP, Response #2: I agree with PA - run it out, especially if it is 1 vs. 2 in the league.

Since I have little power (1 career blast), I run my ass of on everything, case and point, I hit a lazy liner opposite field just to my right of the second baseman, and it kind of just slowly bounced to the right fielder. He booted it somehow, and since I was in a dead sprint, I saw this happen as I rounded first and never slowed down, reaching third on the play.

Maybe if this guy or gal at the plate would have had even a little bit of hustle, she'd have kept things going and they would have scored the necessary amount of runs to put the game away. Every run counts, and the little things can add up to that extra run!!!

Shane Drahota, former MSU Asst. SID/USD Asst. AD/SID, Current MSU Director of Compliance and Student Services: My opinion...it's not a dirty play, but it is a little Bush League. I certainly appreciate the heads-upiness (yep, I coined that) of the younger Nelsen, and it is likely something I would have done were I in that situation, I would have probably erupted if I were the other teamas well and called him not nice names.

I am going to point out that far, FAR too much time has been spent discussing a slow-pitch softball game that none of us were within 60 miles of when it was played. As a form of revenge, expect an "Opinion Needed" from the Jackson Golf Club Championship in August as there isalmost always controversy surrounding that event.

Matt Magers, Former Chicago Cubs Draft pick, Current MSU Baseball Coach: It's a great play. The guy (on the other team) was probably pissed his wife got out...Don't take your personal problems to the field...

Nick Ferentz, Lawyer (owner of Frentz and Frentz Law Firm, 345-4505, played college ball at Mcalaster), No it's not dirty, she should have been running.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Hope those who are fathers had a great weekend and I hope those who have fathers made sure they told them they appreciated them.

I, myself, had a great weekend. It started Friday afternoon when i left work at noon for an eye-doctor before coming home to do some yard work. After weeding the new grass I planted a few weeks ago, I mowed, planted some new grass around a tree, watered and then started the coals for some steaks. (we got a 1/4 of a steer from Curt and grilled our first pack of Ribeyes...it was the best).

After sipping on a couple of summer shandy's over the coals and our meal, Lisa and I decided we should go to New Ulm to return some stuff to K-Mart, after K-Mart wouldn't accept our return, we took the long way home and stopped at Curt and Julie's for a bit. I greatly enjoyed the ride, it was a beautiful night and I could "scout the crops" on our way after the rains that happened last week...Some pretty big wet spots, but hopefully today's winds and a favorable forecast this week will help dry out the fields so the fellas can go in and spray.

Saturday was my bachelor party and it was a blast... The day started with the Ringsted portion of the crew meeting at our house around 10 am and going to Canterbury. After watching the guys bet on some cards (i only played cards for about 10 minutes, I wanted to play money on the ponies) we went upstairs for lunch and then settled in for the races.

I played a horse here or there and was suddenly down to my last ten bucks before my buddy and horse guru, Denny Wheller pointed me towards a horse, LemonLime... After the big win (which paid me 38 bucks, bringing me back to even for the day), I ended up losing twenty bucks and finished the day down 20, which in my mind, for the entertainment value was a pretty good deal.

We got back to Mankato around six and went to the Moondogs game and sat on the Dogpound. It's basically all you can eat food, on top of two free beers and dollar beers after that, and it was a good time. At one point, when there was about a good 15-20 of us behind the third-base dugout, none of us where watching the game and had formed a big circle and started talking and telling stories.

After the game, which the Moondogs won, we went down to Blue Bricks where we continued the festivities. I called it a night around one, and my brother Bryon and I were the first to leave,

but it was a great time.

After getting up today - and questioning why I drank so much the night before - Lisa and I got ready and went to Gaylord to celebrate fathers day with Lisa's family. I being the guy who loves to grill, stood over the grill and got burgers and 'dogs ready while we broke down the night before. After a great lunch, I had a nice nap during the end of the Twins game before waking up talking with the family. We got in the car around 6:30 and came back to Mankato, which segues into my topic of discussion...

We literally got back to 'Kato in the nick of time. I popped myself down in my chair and turned on KARE 11 to hopefully catch the last few holes of the US Open...Little did I know, that Tiger

Woods, who was playing in the final pairing, was on the 18th hole, with about a 12-15 put for birdie to force an 18-hole playoff tomorrow. Then, we turned on the basketball game and watched Paul Pierce go off for 21 in the first half, including a three-pointer in the final seconds of the first half to cut the LA lead to 55-52 at the break.

Now, as I type this, Pierce has gotten in a little foul trouble, and the Lakers are up six in the waning moments of the first half, but he's had a helluva series and has to be the MVP, should Boston hold on to win. Without a doubt, Tiger Woods is the tougher of the two athletes, however Paul Pierce has really made me appreciate his game this week.

On the wedding front, OMG (that's Oh My God) for those of you don't know, we're down to 40 days before the big day... Getting pretty exciting, on our way back from Gaylord today, we mad

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Hey everyone.... it's been a while since I posted (I know, some of you have been checking daily to see if there are new posts, and there is not so I digress).

Was a busy weekend at the Kahle (soon-to-be) Nelsen household. Friday night (or as I like to call it, my birthday eve), we met Lisa's parents and sister (Lindsey) at Jonny B's (home of our reception supper) for a bite to eat and then came back to our place and relaxed.

Saturday morning began at 5:30 as we were to be in Ringsted by 9:15 for the start of our shower. Lisa's parents (her dad came with to so he could kick it with my dad), sister's (and sister-in-love Becky) and G'ma Uecker came with and we headed down to God's Country. We got there and dropped Curt off with my dad so they could drive around and look at the dirt in the fields while the rest of us attended our shower.

The shower was good and we got a lot of nice things which made it even better. After the cars were packed, we sent Robyn, Becky and Lindsey back with a load and we stayed at my parents for a bit and had lunch. Some friends of ours, Jason and Betsey, along with their daughter Ella, stopped by and had lunch to so that was nice to catch up. After lunch, we stopped out at the farm to see Grandma and Grandpa Nelsen before heading back to Mankato.

Once returning to Mankato, we unpacked (which stinks) all of our stuff and got everything as situated as possible. After a few drunk calls from Lisa's siblings, we decided to head home and hang out with them in Ryan and Becky's garage. It was a good time, and we stopped at Taco Bell so I could have my birthday supper on the way.

We got there and played a few games of Polish Golf and caught up before heading back to

Mankato.

This morning we slept in till 9:30 (that never used to be sleeping in back in the day, I don't know what's happening to us) and then finished putting stuff away. My parents came up around 1:15 and took us out to lunch and then we went to Menards and used a nice gift certificate that we had gotten for the wedding. We bought a Sheppard's Hook (for our new bird feeder), two pots, a garden rake, grass seed, potting soil, a hose, a hose gun, and a variety of flowers.

One quick side note, my mother, god-bless her sole, loves flowers... At Menards there was a trash can filled full with waving pansies. Mother said they were perfectly good flowers, so she talked to the associate there and got six flats of them for 5 bucks. And then donated them to our cause.

So we got home, dad helped me plant the grass quick and I watered it while Lisa pulled weeds and mom looked at our shower cards. Mom and dad left and Lisa planted our flowers before we retired for the night. They look nice and hopefully they will look good all summer and hopefully the neighbor kids will stay off our grass.

So, here is what the flowers look like...Lisa did such a good job didn't she?

This is where i planted the grass seed

These are the flowers that were saved from the dumpster...I just hope I don't have to put them there in a week.

Tuesday I got up, went for a walk and then ran a bunch of errands (which included getting our wedding invites) before coming home for lunch with Lisa...After that, we went and got our marriage licence and then I came home pulled bushes out of yard (six in front of the house and three in front of the garage...)

It was back to work on Wednesday, but I really wouldn't call it much work...Our baseball team qualified for the national tournament so i went into work for about six hours Wednesday thru Friday to man the phones.

Friday night, Lisa and I went out for supper at the Tav and then came home and watched the Kingdom on DVD (we're big fans of Netflix...highly recommended)...Saturday was a busy day as we got up, went to Target to get a fire pit and then Shopko...After dropping Lisa off at home, I went to watch the Mankato East baseball team play (my boss's eldest son got called up to varsity) and then came home and went for a walk/jog.

Saturday night, we had some friends over and broke in the fire pit with my buddy Nathan and Alex as well as our neighbors who are kiddy corner from us...They are around our age and have been married a year and seem pretty cool, so that's exciting. We sat around the fire, drank some margarita's and beer and come 11:30, we figured it'd be a good idea to call and get some Gary's Pizza. I've never hard Gary's sober, but with a few cocktails in you, it's the closest thing to heaven on earth.

Sunday we went to church at 9:30 (so mad we got up that early) then ran to Wally World to get a few groceries, came home and cut coupons before going for a nice walk down to Sibley Park (a hidden gem in Mankato) before coming home and mowing yard once again. Last night, my cousin Morgan who goes to Gustavus and her boyfriend Brad came down and we grilled burgers.

So, last night as we were watching the Academy of Country Music Awards, I looked at Lisa and said "this was a great weekend" and it really was...it was the first weekend in a long, long time where we had absolutely nothing on the agenda and absolutely nothing interrupted our time together. It was great being with her because I'm gone so much...

Anyway, really not much else is new in the world of ScottnLisa...

However, with it being May Sweeps, I'd love to discuss a few of my favorite TV shows...

The Office: Great finale..The Kevin subplot was brilliant, and I can't believe the end with Dwight and Angela. I'm ready for Jim and Pam to get engaged already and pretty shocked about what happened with Ryan.

ER: My guess is Dr. Pratt was in the ambulance, however I'm usually wrong with these things. It was a great show, and the Steve Buscemiwas really good on the show.

The Big Bang Theory: I'm really not into this show big time, however it's right before one of my favorite show's on TV, but tonight's show was decent...it's getting better

How I Met Your Mother: I love the way Jason Segelplays the character Marshall Eriksen. I'm also not the biggest fan of Neil Patrick Harris but he is dynamite in the show. Tonight's season finale was good...I highly recommend catching the the season this summer when it's re-running on CBS...And I never saw that ending coming

Final note: The Mavericks of Minnesota State won the 2008 NCC Cup...May not sound like a big deal but it's the fourth straight year that we have won the award (our men won the men's title for the fourth time as well and the women won the women's title for the first time since 1996). This is truly an honor that the entire athletic department should be proud of as it measures the success of all your sports not just one. Nationally we rank second in the Director's Cup race (which measures basically the same thing, just on a nation-wide scale) which would be our highest finish in school history.

I'm a little biased, but I do believe that MSU athletics is still an underrated commodity in this area. It's cheap, exciting entertainment and the way that this season has gone, if you go to a game, there's a better than 70% chance that you'll see the home team win. Seriously, if anyone would ever want tickets next season, let me know, I'd love to get you to a game.

So there you have it, you're probably bored out of your mind, but thanks for reading...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Rumour has it that people have missed my witty and smart alecky posts...(Pause while i pat myself on the back).

I just got back from a road trip that put me at our house for just one day over the last nine. I spent the first three days (May 2-4) of the trip in Duluth with the softball team and was there until Sunday...Then I got home at midnight, went to work, then had a date with my fiance before grabbing a plane and flying to Kansas City for a softball tournament from Tuesday-Saturday. It was a double elimination tournament so we got rained out on wednesday, lost thursday won two games friday, won one game saturday and then lost our last game saturday. We made it to the airport by a mere seven minutes before our seven o'clock flight saturday and made it home around 11 o'clock last night... hotels, and eating out every day gets old and living in Emporia for four nights and five days isn't that great.

But i loved getting home last night... Lisa was awake when i got home and its never felt so good to get hugged! We slept in today and then went back to Gaylord to celebrate mothers day and robyns birthday at the Prairie House. Then we were home for an hour and drove to Fairmont to have supper for with my grandma, uncle, mom, dad and brother...165 miles on the car today, but it was worth it.

Anyway, sorry for the rather boring post... happy mothers day everyone you are appreciated.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Between moving in together and joining all of our stuff and two weddings showers, we have accumulated a bunch of stuff that we no longer need/want. I wanted to toss it... My future mother in-law claimed it would sell at a garage sale.

So, last Saturday afternoon, we priced everything (and trust me, it's priced to sell) and took it back to Lisa's Aunt Connie's house. After some discussion, we chose tonight to take it back to Gaylord because I leave for Duluth for a softball tournament this weekend for MSU.

It's a multi-family garage sale, so there is a lot of "stuff" stuffed into this garage. We left after about an hour and I'm rather positive that more stuff was placed in the garage after our departure. Anyway, the whole garage-sale phenomenon; baffles me (nothing against those who garage sale)...When thinking about it, wouldn't a person be better off , itemizing the stuff you want to sell cheap and give them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill and getting the tax break from it? Oh well, to each their own... All I have to say, is that I hope that whatever doesn't sell, doesn't make it back to our place.

It was great however getting to see a lot of Lisa's family. I've meet everyone now, but it's always good to get together and get to know them better...the faster they learn my sarcasm, the faster we'll get along :)

It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed driving through the country to see the tractors and planters playing in the mud. This time of year is one of my favorites, along with the fall, because I love driving through the country and watching people farm. (You can take the kid out of Iowa but you can't take Iowa out of the kid). I'm sure my old man gets tired of me calling him twice a day to get updates on how the planting is going, but it's how i stay in touch...Now i got my future father-in-law that I can call to, which is nice.

Speaking of Curt, when we stopped by the Kahle residence he showed me his unexpected new arrival on the farm (one of his heifers had a baby calf, much to the surprise of Curt, and I probably assume the heifer as well)... I love being in the barn... I miss the farm.

Oh well, there you have it lots of rambling, but in all it was a great day... Got to spend some time with the sweetie, see the future in-laws and had supper at EJ's.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

1) Had to begin the day by going to the dentist. Enough said (two minor cavaties to make it a little worse)

2) After I got back from lunch, I managed to spill an entire glass (roughly 32 ounces) of water all over my desk at work... Some of the water splashed onto my new (new as in new last August) keyboard and it decided to not work on me, so I had to steal a keyboard from our main lobby and then take my old one over to IT, so lord knows when I'll get it back.

3) Found out I'll be going on a road trip (five days long) about a month after we are married... It's for work and it'll be fun, but it will stink to be away from my lovely bride-to-be just a month into our new marriage.

4) Then, after Lisa and I got back from our walk, one of use went to use the bathroom and clogged up the toilet... All I could think of was Cousin Eddie saying "Shitter's full Clark" and all Lisa could think about was the potential mess that it could have made...Problem was resolved without any spillage, thanks for asking.

Oh well, for every crappy day, there has to be a happy day. And I'm sure there will be plenty of days like this to come, but hopefully that for every bad one, we'll have a week's worth of happy days.

On a totally unrelated note... There is nothing better than playoff hockey... I just wish ESPN would pick it back up so I don't have to find it on Versus... Oh well, that's a whole nother post.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Hey all...We're not really sheep, but it does seem that everyone has a blog and we've decided to create one ourselves as we prepare for our wedding (89 days away) on July 26.

Hopefully this can been used as a good way to communicate with our friends and family scattered throughout the Upper Midwest.

A quick update for everyone... Lisa is the office manager for Oak Terrace Assisted Living in North Mankato, Minn. She's been with the OT (as I like to call it) for the last seven years, and with any job, it has its good days with its bad.

I'm wrapping up my second year at Minnesota State University where I work in the athletic department where I work as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications. Basically, I help with the media relations efforts of our 23 NCAA Division I and II sports teams. My direct responsibilities include overseeing the day-to-day media relations operations for men's basketball, football, softball and men's & women's swimming and diving.

We reside in Mankato, Minn. where we have purchased a house at 505 West 8th Street and are enjoying the perks of being a home owner. We're excited to spend our first summer together in the house and the remodeling that we wanted done right away (master closet, guest closet) has been completed (thanks Curt), so we can now enjoy our house each day.

So stop by periodically if you want to know what's going on in our world... Hope all is well with everyone...